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Combat
In Crusaders, combat is fast paced and reactive. Instead of taking turns trading high-damaging blows, characters attack, defend, and counterattack. Because of how rare healing magic is, damage is lasting and meaningful. Jumping into a combat situation unprepared could very easily lead to death. Turns and Rounds: For the sake of simplicity, each character’s actions (including enemies and monsters) are separated into turns, and each full rotation of turns is called a round. It’s important to realize that even though actions are separated this way, all actions in a round happen at about the same time. ''Furthermore, no matter how long of real world time each round takes, it passes by in 10 seconds of game time. Therefore, one round = 10 seconds. Action Points and Combat Actions '''Weapon Ranks:' The amount of action points a character receives per round is determined by his weapon rank with the weapon he is currently using. 1 point in a weapon skill equates to one action point, which equates to 1d10 for most situations involving rolls. A character may spend action points to perform attacks, spells, or various other actions detailed later. At the start of each round, characters receive their full amount of action points. Improvised Weapons:' '''A character who picks up a weapon for the first time is treated as having rank 1 with that weapon. A character who picks up an item not intended to be a weapon, receives the action points he would receive from whatever discipline the improvised weapon most resembles, but attacks with that weapon only deals non-lethal damage. '''DBP:' The amount of evasive maneuvers a character can take during a round is determined by his action points. These actions typically include Dodging, Blocking, or Parrying (DBP). ''Performing a DBP requires expending 1 action point. While attacking can only be done on your character’s turn, you may perform a DBP whenever you are attacked. '''Changing Weapons:' 'Characters who change weapons ''must adjust their remaining action points down to whatever their rank is with the new weapon. They cannot adjust up, even if they have higher skill with their new weapon. At the beginning of the next round they receive action points equal to their weapon rank of the new weapon they have equipped. If they do not have a weapon, they receive action points as if fighting unarmed. Initially drawing a weapon at the start of combat grants action points equal to the skill with the weapon they drew. '''Disarmament: Characters who are disarmed cannot parry until they retrieve their weapon. However, they can still block, dodge, and attack as though unarmed. Upon being disarmed, characters must adjust their action points down to the amount they would receive while fighting as unarmed; but never adjust up. Free Actions: Some actions do not expend an action point, such as talking. Talking can be done whenever a character wants during a round, assuming that what they have to say takes a 10 seconds or less. Unarmed Fighting:' '''Characters who begin the round with no weapon equipped fight as unarmed. They receive one action point for each free hand. An unarmed attacker only deals 1 point of non-lethal damage (aka ''fatigue) to his target, but deals no damage if the defender is in a higher Monster Tier. Inversely, if a defender's Monster Tier is lower than the attacker's, that attacker's unarmed attacks deal normal damage. Unarmed characters cannot parry, and can only block if they have a shield. However, they may still dodge as normal. Offhand Bonuses: 'Characters fighting with two weapons at once receive action points equal to the weapon rank of their main-hand weapon ''plus half the ranks (rounded up) with their offhand weapon. Characters with one empty hand receive an additional action point. Characters with a shield receive two additional action points, but these may only be spent on blocking. '''Skills During Combat: Occasionally, a character may try to make use of a non-combat skill he has in a combat situation. When this happens, he makes a skill check as normal, but may only roll dice up to his current amount of action points. These action points are considered used for that round. Advanced Attacks: During combat, a character may wish to perform an advanced combat technique, such as a disarm or trip. He may use as many action points as he likes, rolling them as either attacks or skill checks, depending on the nature of the maneuver. These types of attacks should be viewed as the player's chance to add their own creativity to their character's fighting style. A player may also attempt to attack a specific part of a creature other than it's center mass, perhaps to sever a limb or gouge out an eye. The difficulty of these tasks vary greatly and ultimately fall under the game master's discretion, but a general rule is that advanced attacks require successes with 2 or more action points at once to succeed. Simple Actions: Some actions do not need to be rolled for, and simply expend an action point to do. These actions include activating a rune, drinking a potion, or fishing something out of a satchel. Casting Spells: A character generates action points based on his equipped weapon, even when his intent is to cast spells. This represents his ability to generate a threatening presence and keep attackers at bay while he prepares his spell. Alternatively, a mage may use a channeling weapon, such as a staff or wand, to generate action points based on his highest magic rank. However, he may find attacking with such an item to be fruitless. A mage may spend as many action points as he likes on individual simple spells, or maybe attempt to cast an advanced spell by rolling multiple action points at once. However, he may never exceed his magic rank with the amount of dice he throws at once. Ranged Weapons:'''Expending an action point readies and fires a ranged weapon. A bow or crossbow may be loaded and fired in this way. Small thrown weapons can be drawn and thrown by expending a single action point. However, thrown weapons are not suited for melee combat. An ambidextrous character can hold a weapon in one hand while he throws smaller weapons with his other. Attacking and Defending ''For attacking with spells, see the spells section. '' '''Initiative: Combat begins when the game master or the players initiate it. The first action to be taken during combat is determining turn order. The player or monster with the highest agility acts first, followed by the next highest, and so on. Use a roll-off to determine who goes first if there is a tie. Surprise Attacks:' '''If the party is caught off-guard, every character can make an observation check versus the enemy stealth roll. Those who score at least as many successes as the enemy can engage normally. Those who don’t pass must forgo their first turn and begin combat at the start of the next round. '''Attacking:' '''After initiative, a character may move up to his base movement and attack an enemy within 1 meter of him, or 2 meters if he is using a reach weapon. After declaring an attack, he rolls as many action points (D10) from his action point pool as he wishes. He then compares each individual roll against his target’s Armor Rating. The enemy may then choose to perform one DBP per successful attack made against them, if they have an action points to do so. A successful DBP means that the hit deals no damage. If the enemy cannot perform a DBP, or is unsuccessful in his attempt, that individual attack goes through and the enemy takes 1 point of damage (or 2 points for a two-handed weapon). The attacker may spend as many action points as attacks, divided among any enemies within 1 meter of him, as he likes during his turn. '''Intervene:' '''You may attempt to Block or Parry (but not Dodge) for an ally within 1 meter of you. If you fail your attempt to Block or Parry, you take the hit that your ally would have taken. You do not have to preemptively declare that you are protecting that ally. However, once you have attempted a Block or Parry for an ally, you cannot change the ally you are protecting until your next turn. '''DBP: '''Any time an opponent attacks you with a melee attack, you may attempt to Dodge, Block, or Parry by spending an action point. To perform a DBP, declare you are doing so and roll a d10. Check your character sheet and compare your roll to your Dodge, Block, or Parry number. If you rolled lower than your number, you have successfully evaded the attack and are dealt no damage. Most projectile spells can be Dodged or Blocked, but not Parried. '''Denial of DBP: '''You may be denied your ability to perform one or more of the defensive maneuvers under certain circumstances. You cannot Dodge in the defense of an ally. You can Dodge or Block most projectile spells, but cannot Parry them. If prone, you cannot Dodge attacks, but you can still Block or Parry. If disarmed, you can Dodge or Block, but not Parry. If restrained, you cannot perform a DBP. '''Attacking From Behind: '''Attacks made from behind cannot be Dodged, Blocked, or Parried as long as the defender is either distracted or unaware he is being attacked. '''Provoking an Attack: '''If an enemy attempts to disengage or otherwise move out of melee range, you may attack it by spending an action point; even if it is not your turn. This counts for enemies running through your field of melee range as well. Enemies turning or fleeing cannot DBP these attacks. An enemy who attempts to retreat while facing you can still attempt a DBP, but he moves at half his base speed (crawling pace). '''Resolve Checks:' There are several situations in which a character must make a morale check to fight normally. He does this by rolling his resolve skill. These checks do not consume action points. Failing a resolve check reduces the character's action points to 1 for the first round of combat, as he is considered "shaken" and distracted from fighting. These situations are: If a character starts a fight where he is outnumbered, he must pass a resolve check with successes equal to each enemy outnumbering him and his allies. If a character sees an ally fall in battle, he must make a resolve check. If a character receives damage exceeding half of his maximum hit points in one round of combat, he must pass a resolve check. Resilience and Armor Rating: ''' Resilience refers to how resistant an object is to breaking. Every piece of equipment in crusaders has a resilience, rated from 1 – 10. The higher the resilience, the more difficult it is to break. A piece of armor that covers the torso counts as the armor rating for your character. Other pieces of armor's resilience are only considered when dealing with advanced attacks to those parts of the body. Movement and Range '''Base Movement: A character’s normal movement speed (walking) during combat is twice his agility score, in meters. For an average human this would be 10 meters. If using a table-top to measure character movement, every meter is equal to 1 inch. Crawling:' '''Crawling speed is half of a character's base movement speed. When a character is injured, he may be forced to crawl. This can also be represented by stumbled, or sluggish movement. This can be triggered by a critical injury to the leg. Spells or abilities that cause this will specifically say so. A character sneaking or cautiously retreating from an enemy moves at a crawling pace. '''Walking:' Walking is a character's base movement speed and will be his primary mode of movement. It can be anything from a casual gate to a light jog. Running:' '''A character running or charging may move up to double his walking speed (4xAgility) at the cost of an action point. '''Galloping': A horse-like animal's normal movement speed is considered Galloping. It is Twice as fast as running, and four times as fast as walking (8xAgility). Soaring:' '''Soaring is typical flying speed, and is twice as fast as Galloping; eight times as fast as walking (16xAgility). Damage and Death A character takes damage when he is attacked successfully in combat and cannot perform a DBP or does not perform one successfully. Most melee weapons deal 1 point of damage per hit. Two-handed weapons deal 2 points of damage per hit. '''Downing:' When a character has 0 hit points remaining, he goes into a ‘downed’ state. In this state, he receives 0 action points per round and moves at a crawling pace. A character with 0 HP is not automatically unconscious. '''Fatigue: '''Characters can suffer from fatigue hits equal to twice their maximum hit points, before going into an unconscious state. A character who continues to receive non-lethal damage while unconscious instead receives an equal amount of normal damage. '''Bleeding: '''Under certain circumstances, a character may be wounded and bleed. A bleeding wound causes 1 point of fatigue each round until tended to. If a character is downed or knocked unconscious by an attack that causes bleeding; they are considered ‘bleeding out’ and must be tended to immediately. An unconscious character who is bleeding out takes 1 hit of normal damage every round. '''Poison: '''An effect that states it poisons the target will have a ‘poison strength’ assigned to it. A character struck by a poisoned weapon or effect must pass a Resistance skill check versus the poison’s strength to keep from succumbing to the effects of the poison. Upon failing that check, a character takes one point of fatigue per round until unconscious; where a secondary effect will take place, depending on the poison. '''Death: '''Whenever a character who has 0 hits remaining receives damage, he must make a resistance check with successes equal to the amount of negative hit points he has. This action does not expend action points and can be done as many times as he receives damage during a round. If he fails even one of these tests, he dies. Combat Example (INCOMPLETE)